readx; At this time, the sun had just risen, and the early sun emitted light that made the clouds on the horizon exude colorful colors, and when the sea surface was bathed in the first ray of sunlight, the piercing siren sounded throughout the sea, saying, "The main formation of the Second Fleet of the Navy and the Chinese task force discovered each other at the same time, and at this time, the two sides were sailing at an angle of 45 degrees. The www.biquge.info Second Fleet is located twenty nautical miles southeast of China's main formation. Eighteen nautical miles directly in front of China's main fleet is the mobile formation of the Chinese task force, that is, the avant-garde reconnaissance fleet composed of aircraft carriers and heavy cruisers.

Cheng Biguang, who learned of the enemy's situation, immediately issued a combat order, and the main formation began to accelerate, and at the same time, the First Destroyer Detachment, which was escorting the enemy on the south side of the main fleet, began to gallop southeast in an attempt to launch a lightning strike and disturbance operation against the Second Fleet. At this time, Cheng Biguang's idea and first reaction was to seize the T-shaped prefix in order to give full play to all the eighteen main guns of his two ships.

Of course, when Cheng Biguang commanded the fleet to maneuver, Vice Admiral Naoe, commander of the Second Fleet, also issued the corresponding combat order, and his task was to contain the main Chinese fleet and then wait for the arrival of the main force of his own First Fleet, and this containment does not mean that it is okay to stay still here, if you want to contain the enemy, then the battle is inevitable. Almost simultaneously, the fleets of both sides began to accelerate to the top speed and tried to seize the T-head.

Although the previous distance is not a problem for the range of the main guns of both sides, it is very difficult to get a hit at a distance of more than 25,000 kilometers, and the shells of the main guns are also limited, each gun can only carry a hundred shells, some of which must be semi-armor-piercing shells and grenades, but not all of them are armor-piercing shells.

So Huang Pinghan has been waiting, waiting until now!

As Huang Pinghan gave the order to open fire, the two Chinese battleships began to fire salvo shells in an instant, sending out the first roar of this naval battle.

The captain of the King Kong, Seki Kanjo Dazuo, looked at the splash in front of the battleship: "Hmph, although their main guns have a large caliber and a long range, this artillery skill is ......" He shook his head after saying that.

It has to be said that although the two battleships of China, the Yandi and the Yellow Emperor, had the advantage of firing range first, the Chinese Navy's artillery level was still some distance away from the naval power, and it was impossible for the two ships to expect the first salvo to hit, and it was also very difficult to form a straddle fire, but it was not necessary to hit the vicinity anyway, but the Yandi and the Yellow Emperor said to the first salvo launched by the first ship of the Fourth Squadron of the Second Fleet did not even bring a splash to the King Kong.

Looking at the vague droplets of water in the distance, Huang Pinghan didn't feel too surprised, what was the level of his own artillery skills, he knew better than he said, and he also knew that it was impossible for his side to achieve any results at this distance, and the reason why he still ordered the artillery was to fire the artillery in advance to obtain the artillery results provided by a few more rounds of salvo Zhuyuan, which could also make the follow-up artillery more smooth. He didn't expect to be able to shoot in the first three volleys, but the first five rounds should be okay, and he had to hit a few more rounds to hit a few rounds! Don't let him hit even one main shell, then he said, 'Those thin-skinned and big-stuffed Kong-class battlecruisers of mine will be seriously injured if they don't die.'

A battle cruiser of more than 20,000 tons and a high-speed battleship of more than 40,000 tons were facing each other, even if it was four against two, but Huang Pinghan was still confident that with the excellent protection of his own battleship and the sixteen-inch naval guns that far surpassed the sixteen-inch naval guns of the Ben King Kong-class battlecruisers, they were enough to sink them one by one at a distance of about 20,000 meters, while the opponent's naval guns could not pose a mortal threat to his Yandi-class battleships above this distance.

The protection of the Yandi-class battleships is not too good for battleships of the same class, at least it is a cut worse than the South Dakota-class. But this is not too good, it has to be compared with the cutting-edge battleships of the same class, and compared with other old battleships and battle cruisers, the protection ability of the Yandi class is much better, if you want to cause fatal damage to the Yandi class, in addition to torpedoes and later aircraft bombing, it can only be a large-caliber naval gun of more than 16 inches. In contrast, if the fourteen-inch naval guns on the King Kong class want to inflict fatal damage on the Yandi-class battleships, they must enter at least within 15,000 meters, and the distance of 15,000 meters is not so easy to get close, especially when the speed of the 28-knots of the Yandi-class is higher than the speed of the 27.5 knots of the Kong-class class.

It is precisely because of the confidence in the Yandi-class battleships and the fact that his avant-garde fleet is already turning at a high speed, and the two eight-inch naval guns on the heavy patrol in the avant-garde fleet will also be able to provide support to his side, and it is precisely because of these reasons that Cheng Biguang ordered to engage instead of fleeing directly at high speed. You must go, but you have to get a little benefit before you go.

Don't look at the fierce naval scenes in film and television works, but in fact, the naval battles in these years are quite boring and long, and the two sides found each other at the moment when the sun had just come out, and after waiting for half an hour, the Chinese main fleet began its first shelling, and the relative distance between the two sides was 25,000 kilometers at that time. The reason why they approached so quickly was also the reason why both sides maneuvered at high speed in order to seize the T-shape.

Faced with the salvo of the main guns of the Chinese Yandi and the Yellow Emperor, Naoe Nakano was not moved, but continued to discuss the battle plan with a large group of officers in the war room.

"We must penetrate to within 15,000 kilometers, otherwise our main guns will not be able to pose a threat to the enemy ships, and our mine team will also need us to provide cover!" Rear Admiral Ryozo Nakamura, chief of staff of the Second Fleet, said: "Although our side has the advantage in the number of main guns, with 32 guns against the enemy's 18 guns, but the enemy is a 16-inch caliber naval gun, and its range and power are far superior to ours, if we continue to maintain a distance of more than 20,000 meters, then we cannot pose a threat to the enemy, but the enemy can continue to threaten us!" ”

"As long as the 5th and 2nd Mine Squadrons have sufficient cover from our 4th Squadron, then they will be able to break through the enemy's interception and break through to a distance of five thousand meters or even closer to carry out lightning operations!" Ryozo Nakamura never thought that he would be able to keep the two Chinese battleships with four capital ships. Indeed, with only four King Kong-class battlecruisers, it is absolutely impossible to leave those two Chinese battleships, and in the case of small and large, lightning strike combat is very necessary.

He said: "This navy is the navy that attaches the most importance to lightning strike operations among the navies of the world today, and has set up two special mine combat teams, even the battle cruisers, which are built and used as the lead ships of the lightning strike fleet, not to mention the heavy cruisers in the future, which are completely designed and built for lightning strike warfare."

The reason why the Chinese Navy also attaches so much importance to lightning strike operations, and even established two lightning strike fleets, is to a certain extent influenced by the so-called "own navy" and tries to make a big deal with small things.

Naoe Nakano didn't think about it for a long time before nodding: "Well, order the 5th Sentai and the 2nd Mine Sentai to prepare for lightning strike operations!" ”

Before that, the four Kongo-class battlecruisers under the 4th Sentai Squadron, the main force of the Second Fleet, had to open a way for these mine-striking ships, or to attract the firepower of the main Chinese fleet.

Immediately, the 4th Squadron led by the four battle cruisers changed course and approached the Chinese Battlefleet again, and began to bombard itself, and the rumbling sound of cannon sounded over this sea area, splashing up to the water droplets, and as time passed, the distance between the two sides was slowly approaching, from 25,000 kilometers, to 24,000 kilometers, and 23,000 kilometers.

When the Yandi fired another volley at the King Kong, the lookout on the towering mast stared at the fleet in the distance with wide eyes, and at this moment, the King Kong suddenly burst into flames, and the lookout on the Yandi shouted excitedly: "Hit!" Hit! In contrast to the excited shouting of the lookout, the gun staff officer, who also used a high-powered telescope to observe the landing point of the shells and make adjustments to the shelling, clenched his fists vigorously and reported to the war room by phone: "Hit the No. 2 turret of the enemy ship King Kong!" ”

Huang Pinghan also waved his hand vigorously at this time, it has been half an hour since the battle, this is still the first hit of his own side, although he has fired a lot of cannons before, but he has not even made a hit.

At this time, the gun staff officer reported by phone again: "Confirm the destruction of the No. 2 turret of the King Kong!" ”

"Good!" Just like Huang Pinghan's own estimate, in the face of a thin-skinned stuffing like the King Kong level, as long as it hits, it is enough to inflict fatal damage on the enemy.

"It's a sixteen-inch cannon! Destroyed an enemy ship's turret with just one shot! "Vice Admiral Cheng Biguang, commander of the First Fleet, lowered the telescope, and according to the current situation, his own side will still be able to occupy a lot of advantages, and it is not impossible to even sink a battle cruiser of the enemy.

Shut down

When Guan Gancheng Dazuo on the King Kong saw that the No. 2 turret below had become ruins and caused a fire, he scolded: "Yaga! Don't hurry up and put out the fire! Then he ordered: "Aim your cannon at the enemy's first ship, the Yandi!" ”

The destruction of one of the turrets of the Kongo does not mean that it sank, and the Kongo's timely extinguishing of the fire did not cause a chain reaction such as detonating the ammunition depot, and immediately after, Naoe Nakano ordered the four battleships of the 4th Sentai to concentrate their artillery on the Yandi.

As a result, the shells of the 14-inch naval guns of up to 30 guns continued to smash into the sea around the Yandi, and soon a 14-inch shell hit the Yandi.

"Hit, hit the second turret of the enemy ship!" The Kongo observer shouted excitedly.

Guan Gancheng's face softened a little at this time: "This is the strength of the Imperial Navy!" "Indeed, due to the fact that the shelling distance was too far away, in fact, the hit rate of both sides was very slim, and when it was about 20,000 meters, everyone's hit rate would slowly increase. In fact, the hit rate in naval warfare in this era was actually very low, and in the battleship main gun hit rate test carried out by the First Fleet last year, that is, in 1922, the hit rate of the main guns of more than 25,000 meters was infinitely close to 0, in other words, there was not a single hit in the test, and the hit rate of 20,000 meters and 3,000 meters was only 1.5%, and at 20,000 meters it was only 2%. When it reaches 18,000 kilometers, it is only 3.5%, and when it can achieve a 5% hit rate, it is already close to 15,000 kilometers, and this is only an extremely ideal test data, and the specific hit rate is even lower in actual combat. In order to improve the hit rate of long-range artillery strikes, the navy began to test the firing of aircraft, but before the navy could complete this test, war broke out in China.

Guan Gancheng's face had just softened, and he was about to make persistent efforts to hit a few more shells for the Chinese Yandi, but the lookout above saw through the telescope that the main gun on the second turret of the enemy ship was once again emitting flames: they opened fire again!

As the lookout's frustrated voice came, Guan Gancheng's hand slammed on the table, he knew very well in his heart that the distance was still too far, and the fourteen-inch naval guns on his main gun could not pose a mortal threat to the enemy at all, and he had to continue to get closer!

When the distance between the main formations of the two sides approached 20,000 meters, the hit rate of the two sides rose rapidly, and it was only thirty seconds after the main gun of the King Kong hit the second turret of the Yandi, the main gun of the Haruna behind the King Kong hit the Yandi again, but unfortunately it still hit the heavy side armor of the Yandi, and it could not be effectively penetrated at all. But now at this distance, it is a longer distance, the sixteen-inch main guns of the Yandi and the Yellow Emperor can pose a deadly threat to the Kong-class battlecruisers, whether it is hitting the thickest side armor or horizontal armor or even the main armor of the turret or the armor of the conning tower, the MK2 sixteen-inch and fifty-fold naval guns carried by the Yandi class are enough to penetrate and cause fatal damage to the Kong-class battleships. The MK2 sixteen-inch and fifty-fold naval guns on the Yandi class use more than 900 kilograms of heavy shells, and the muzzle velocity of the shells reaches 853 meters per second.

The title of the most powerful naval gun on the planet today is not in vain, although this gun is made by the United States, but it does not affect the pride of the Chinese Navy in the slightest.

In fact, the gap between the naval guns and protection capabilities of the two sides is very large, but the task of the Second Fleet is to contain the main force of the Chinese navy, so they have to fight hard, and they did not expect to be able to sink these two Chinese battleships with their main guns, and their shock operation this time is only to cover the mine team.

When Haruna hit the Yandi with a shell to no avail, one of the King Kong's shells hit the Yandi again, this time on the third turret in the rear.

Huang Pinghan said: "How is the situation of the No. 3 turret?" ”

The combat adjutant next to him said: "Although the turret itself is not in serious trouble, the casualties inside are very large!" ”

Although the giant cannonball directly penetrated the main armor of the No. 3 turret of the Yandi, the huge explosion shock wave still dazzled the people in the turret with tinnitus, and even the eardrum was perforated and bleeding, and the No. 3 turret was loading at the time of the explosion, and the shock wave of the explosion deflected the giant cannonball that was the size of a person just delivered, although this kind of small accident could not make this giant cannonball detonate or something. However, the giant shell itself was a large piece of iron, and after deflecting, it collided with or even ran over several ammunition men and other personnel who were transporting the shells, causing serious casualties.

The combat staff officer continued: "The back gunner and back ammunition hand have replaced the original artillery crew, and it is expected that the battle will be resumed in three minutes!" ”

In such a large-scale naval artillery battle, it is impossible to have no casualties, and the Yandi had already suffered two shells in front, although it did not cause any damage to the battleship itself, and then it still caused a lot of casualties.

The distance between the two sides is getting closer and closer, from 20,000 meters to 19,000 meters, at this time the hit rate of the two sides has risen significantly, although the Chinese Navy's artillery skills are not as good as the 'Navy, but although the distance is still beginning to achieve a considerable hit rate, just at the time when the third turret of the Yandi was hit and lost its combat effectiveness, the main gun of the Yellow Emperor behind the Yandi hit the Ben Hiei, and the huge power of the sixteen-inch shell directly penetrated the rear half of the side armor of the Hiei, and then went deep into the internal compartment and exploded. The huge explosion caused the entire Hiei to shake and destroy the internal power system, causing the Hiei's speed to drop from its original maximum speed to twenty-three knots.

Looking at the billowing smoke coming out of the Hiei, and even the two turrets in the rear stopped shelling one after another, Naoe Nakano couldn't calm down anymore, and then shouted and asked, "What about the 2nd Mine Brigade and the 5th Mine Team?" Why haven't you entered the formation yet! ”

You must know that the four battlecruisers of the 4th Sentai have attracted all the artillery fire of the Chinese capital ships in order to create an opportunity for the assault of the mine wars, but now, more than 20 minutes have passed, and the mine wars are still unable to launch lightning strikes against the Chinese main fleet.

"They were entangled in light formations of enemy ships!" Ryozo Nakamura said to the chart: "The light cruiser and destroyer formation of the Shina people have intercepted our mine combat team, and our side will not be able to break through the interception of the enemy's light ship formation in a short period of time to launch a lightning attack!" ”

The Second Fleet had cruisers of the 2nd Mine Squadron and the 5th Squadron, but the Chinese task force also had a cruiser fleet and a lightning strike fleet in addition to the two battleships of the battlefleet, and the cruiser fleet and the lightning strike fleet were divided into two, and the avant-garde reconnaissance fleet consisting of two aircraft carriers, two heavy cruisers, and three destroyers was in front of the main fleet, and the main fleet had two battleships, six destroyers, and three light cruisers. When the two battleships of the Chinese task force and the four battlecruisers of the 4th Sentai of the Second Fleet engaged in a duel between the capital ships, the light formations of the two sides also engaged in battle.

Compared with the spectacular and gorgeous duel of the capital ships, the battle between the light ships of the two sides was more brutal and fierce. Since everyone is a light warship with no armor protection ability, even a small-caliber naval gun can cause damage to the enemy, and the main guns on the light warship are very fast, so the two sides fight as if they are using machine guns to sweep each other's decks, and the casualties are much more than the duel of the capital ship, and there is no safe place in the entire light cruiser or destroyer.

He said, "Ben's mine formation has four cruisers and six destroyers, and the Chinese main fleet also has three light cruisers and six destroyers escorting two battleships, so this fight is evenly matched, and within fifteen minutes of the engagement, Xia Yi and Xia Sa joined forces to sink a destroyer, becoming the first ship to sink in this naval battle, but Cheng Biguang didn't have time to be happy, only half a minute later, he suffered a lot." The Markham, the 2nd Chinese Destroyer Detachment, which was besieged by two cruisers and a destroyer, sank because of a large amount of water.

When the casualties of the capital ships of the two sides were only a few dozen or hundred, the light formations of the two sides had already caused thousands of casualties.

At 7:20 a.m., when the Chinese main fleet was engaged in a fierce artillery battle with the Second Fleet, the two heavy cruisers of the Chinese task force's vanguard reconnaissance fleet had already circled to the southeast, and then sailed to the right flank of the 4th Naval Squadron to launch an operation against the 4th Naval Squadron in order to directly support the Yandi and the Yellow Emperor. After separating from the two heavy cruisers, the two aircraft carriers and three destroyers cruised 20 nautical miles away from the engagement area, and took off a large number of planes to reconnoiter the surrounding sea areas, and at the same time sent torpedo planes to carry out jamming operations against the Second Fleet.

Cheng Biguang thought, if this situation continues, then let alone sink a "Ben King Kong-class battle cruiser, and even achieve more results", but just when Cheng Biguang planned to continue fighting and achieve more results, the reconnaissance plane from the Huashan aircraft carrier reported that there was a formation of warships in the north that was heading towards the engagement area at high speed, and the three cruisers in the formation were nothing, but the leading one was the Amagi battlecruiser that was no smaller than the Yandi-class battleship.

As soon as Cheng Biguang got the news, his heart immediately beat violently, and the cold sweat behind him instantly burst out.

The appearance of the Amagi does not mean that the Amagi itself will join the battle, but that it means that the First Fleet, the main force of this navy, is nearby and may join the battle at any time!'

From the time he discovered the Second Fleet in the morning, Cheng Biguang was originally worried that the main force of the Navy would be nearby, but he thought that even if the main force of the Navy was nearby, it would be at least hundreds of nautical miles away, and it would take time to rush over, and he could take advantage of this time to achieve certain results, and then evacuate the battlefield at high speed.

He didn't expect that his fleet had been exposed yesterday, saying, 'This navy maneuvered all night in order to hunt these two battleships, and gathered all the capital ships of the combined fleet, and Cheng Biguang thought that it was weak and deceitful, and the second fleet of this navy was originally used as bait to drag down the Yandi and Huangdi.

When he thought that the main force of the navy was nearby, Cheng Biguang had only one thought, that is, how to evacuate smoothly from this battlefield!

The Yandi and the Yellow Emperor must not be lost here!